Commissions Of Inquiry Guidelines Released

New guidelines on how to establish
and run a Commission of Inquiry have been released by the
Department of Internal Affairs. They will be launched at 5pm
today at Floor 1, 1 the Terrace.

Although not intended as
a substitute for legal advice "Setting Up and Running
Commissions of Inquiry" will assist everyone involved in a
Commission of Inquiry, ranging from politicians who must
decide when a Commission is appropriate through to members
of the public who wish to attend or study them. These
guidelines were last updated in 1974.

The manual is not
prescriptive but provides pointers and options for
Commissioners and officials to follow. This is partially
because every inquiry addresses a unique mix of issues and
the Commissions of Inquiry Act is, itself, open to varying
interpretations on many matters of practice.

Many high
profile members of the legal profession have been involved
in critiquing the document and have actively assisted in the
development of the guidelines. These include constitutional
lawyer Sir Geoffrey Palmer, past solicitor general John
McGrath and past and present Commissioners including Sir
Ronald Davidson, and Sir Thomas Eichelbaum.

There have
been over 120 Royal Commissions and Commissioners of Inquiry
between 1947 and 2000.

"Setting Up and Running
Commissions of Inquiry" is available on the Internal Affairs
webstie:.www.dia.govt.nz. (Click on 'What's New' or
'Publications, Reports and Reviews').Hard copies of the
document are available from Elly-Ann Pritchard, Department
of Internal Affairs, PO Box 805, Wellington.

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